What are you doing about the Start menu?

Since the Windows 8 Start menu (or lack thereof) seems to be the issue most Windows 8 users feel strongest about I'm interested in finding out what (if any) program you have chosen to restore it, whether you like it more less or pretty much the same as the actual Microsoft Start menu you were using before. In fact I'm interested in hearing any thoughts you have on the subject of the desktop UI and where it is headed.

Personally I've settled on Classic Shell. Actually settled on isn't really accurate. I tried it and found almost exactly what I've wished the Start menu could be like for the last decade. I've been so busy playing with the Start menu configuration I haven't gotten around to even looking at the Explorer options.

In fact I like it so much I installed it on Windows 7 too. The funny thing is I remember looking at it a few months ago to solve some problems in the Windows 7 Start menu and I seem to recall thinking it would be too much work to configure. Clearly I didn't look very closely because I was completely wrong. It is going to take me quite a while to finish setting it up but that's just because I'm going to customize it beyond recognition.

Microsoft has done some great things with the internals of Windows in the last 2 versions. I'm happy with that and I would want to upgrade even if they stripped the GUI down to nothing but the desktop wallpaper. I'm equally fine with it just staying the same from one version to the next. But after almost 20 years it's time to settle on a basic set of features for the GUI that does everything people like my Mom need and either offers me every conceivable choice to customize it or gets the hell out of my way so I can load customizations of my own.

Since the Windows 8 Start menu (or lack thereof) seems to be the issue most Windows 8 users feel strongest about I'm interested in finding out what (if any) program you have chosen to restore it, whether you like it more less or pretty much the same as the actual Microsoft Start menu you were using before. In fact I'm interested in hearing any thoughts you have on the subject of the desktop UI and where it is headed.

Personally I've settled on Classic Shell. Actually settled on isn't really accurate. I tried it and found almost exactly what I've wished the Start menu could be like for the last decade. I've been so busy playing with the Start menu configuration I haven't gotten around to even looking at the Explorer options.

In fact I like it so much I installed it on Windows 7 too. The funny thing is I remember looking at it a few months ago to solve some problems in the Windows 7 Start menu and I seem to recall thinking it would be too much work to configure. Clearly I didn't look very closely because I was completely wrong. It is going to take me quite a while to finish setting it up but that's just because I'm going to customize it beyond recognition.

Microsoft has done some great things with the internals of Windows in the last 2 versions. I'm happy with that and I would want to upgrade even if they stripped the GUI down to nothing but the desktop wallpaper. I'm equally fine with it just staying the same from one version to the next. But after almost 20 years it's time to settle on a basic set of features for the GUI that does everything people like my Mom need and either offers me every conceivable choice to customize it or gets the hell out of my way so I can load customizations of my own.

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I am waiting for someone to hack the o.s back to the older start bar they did it in windows 8 beta they just have to get it done with the full version and as long as it doesn't play with activation microsoft cannot say jack about it

I am waiting for someone to hack the o.s back to the older start bar they did it in windows 8 beta they just have to get it done with the full version and as long as it doesn't play with activation microsoft cannot say jack about it

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That's not possible. The hack only worked because the Start menu was simply "turned off" even though it was still included in every Windows 8 installation. It doesn't work now because the actual Start menu code has been removed. There's nothing there to turn on.